Salesforce.com Just Gave CEO Marc Benioff A $1.24 Million Cash Bonus (CRM)

Saturday

Apr 5, 2014 at 3:30 PM

Julie Bort

Fresh off a record-breaking year where revenue hit over $4 billion, Salesforce.com has issued annual cash bonuses to its executives, according to documents filed with the SEC.

But their payouts fell a little shy of the maximum bonuses set aside for them, according to the bonus plans Salesforce.com disclosed last spring.

Co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff got about $1.7 million total out of a maximum possibility of $1.8 million. ($1.24 million in March, plus a $450,000 mid-year bonus paid in September.)
Graham Smith, the retiring CFO, got $562,200 out of a max of $600,000. ($412,200, plus $150,000 at mid-year.)
Parker Harris, co-founder, got $585,625 out of a max $625,000. ($429,375, plus $156,250 at mid-year.)
Frank van Veenendaal, executive vice chairman got $585,625 out of a max of $625,000. ($429,375, plus $156,250 at mid-year).

Salesforce.com declined comment on why the bonuses were a little short. The company turned in a healthy year of growth, and cash bonuses for top executives during such a year are certainly justifiable. The stock performed during the fiscal year as well, rising from around $43 at the beginning of 2013 to about $57 by the end of the fiscal year.

Note that the company also posted a year-end loss of $232.2 million, caused in large part because it spent $2.2 billion on sales and marketing. If it were to trim that budget, it could easily be profitable, but possibly at the expense of revenue growth, Michael Cusumano, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, told The Information.

More recently, investors have not been enthralled with these results, despite the fact that Salesforce increased revenue guidance for its next fiscal year by $100 million. This year, the stock slid from a 52-year high of $67 just before it released earnings to just over $54 on Friday, down about 19%.

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